Doha: The Ministry of Public Health said that a storm with 72 kilometre per hour winds and heavy rain caused two expansion tents at Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital (HMGH) to collapse.

The Ministry added that the tents were part of hospital's expansion to support patients with COVID-19. No other parts of the Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital were damaged in the storm, it added.

All patients were immediately transferred from the expansion area and no patients sustained injuries, the ministry said, adding that in the process of safeguarding and transferring patients, 23 members of staff were injured. Most injuries were minor and injured staff are receiving medical care.

Members of Hamad Medical Corporation's System-Wide Incident Command Committee responded at once and coordinated the response.

Executive Director of Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital Hussein Ishaq said: "We take today's incident very seriously and we are investigating what happened. I want to express my appreciation to all the HMGH staff who heroically helped ensure that no patients were injured and were safely transferred to other hospitals to continue receiving care."

Patients being treated for COVID-19 have been transferred to the hospital in Ras Laffan, a designated COVID-19 hospital.

The Ministry of Public Health said it takes the safety and wellbeing of patients and staff very seriously and have commenced a full investigation into the incident.

It added that today's incident will not impact Hamad Medical Corporation's overall bed and service response to COVID-19 as a significant surplus beds have been planned for in the COVID-19 response.